According to a report by HomesUSA.com, Texas new home sales are rising, homes sold faster in the month of October, and prices are presently down. The New Homes Sales Index reported the information, showing a 12-month DOM rolling average (Days on Market) for new homes in the four largest Texas markets (San Antonio, Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Austin) which were listed in the local Multiple Listing Services.
Each market except for Houston had a noticeable new home sales improvement and DFW, San Antonio, and Austin all had lower DOM averages. According to HomesUSA.com, “In Houston – the largest new home market in Texas – the average DOM for new homes increased from 134.51 days in September to 134.57 days in October. In Dallas-Fort Worth, the DOM decreased from 123.06 days in September to 122.65 days in October. The DOM in Austin had the greatest decrease of the four markets, dropping from 112.21 days in September to 111.44 days in October. San Antonio’s new home sales pace also quickened slightly, as the DOM decreased from 106.17 days in September to 106.06 days in October.”
With respect to these numbers, the owner of HomesUSA.com, realtor Ben Caballero, noted the possibility that Hurricane Harvey could have made a huge impact on such numbers for the Houston area specifically, but also stated that the other Texas data was largely in sync with the Commerce Department’s announcement on the nation’s statistics, which reflected a 6.2 percent increase from September to October for new home sales. “As we head into the winter, we have yet to see the seasonal impact on new home sales, but we may be seeing some signs of Hurricane Harvey’s impact in Houston. For builders and buyers, it looks like a merry holiday season. New home sales are continuing at a record pace, and buyers are benefiting from new home prices that are a little lower,” he further explained.
